Desperation
by amyownfie
Summary: Skye has a secret, one that she is about to discover. When she is abducted, someone goes missing during the rescue mission and skye has to find a way to save them. Part 3 of the souls saga.
1. Chapter 1

AN- This is the reupload of the second part of the souls saga Desperation. I had lost this story but I managed to find where I had the paper copy and so I've typed it up and fixed some of the problems I had with it. I hope you enjoy!

DESPERATION

CHAPTER 1

"Undercover?" Skye questioned. "As a couple?"

"As long as you two maintain your relationship when others are around." Coulson confirmed. "You should also know that he's been sleeping with May for the past few months. I wouldn't ask him about it, she was the one who told me back in Mexico."

Skye felt her world crashing down around her. Ward was with May, the robot and the robot. It made sense but that didn't mean that she had to like it. But she had slept with Miles while they were trying to catch him. And she had been a little more than unkind towards him at first. But she thought that she had a chance, she thought that she could have been with him. She'd heard about Clint and Natasha, Black Widow and Hawkeye. The heroes of New York in an intimate relationship. But after what happened to him before the battle, she could understand that. They hadn't had that; she and Ward wouldn't be able to. They couldn't...

Coulson watched as Skye fell to the ground. Her heartbeat was frantic. That was when Ward opened the door and hit Skye's immobile body with it. They wouldn't tell her about that part.

"What happened to her?" Ward asked frantically.

"I told her about your upcoming mission. I don't think that she took it well. Or that I told her about the nature of yours and May's relationship."

Ward's face turned from worry, to shock, to devastation. "We broke it off a few days ago." He whispered to her. "She knows how I felt about you. There's nothing between Melinda and I Skye, I promise you that." He picked up her as gently as he could, holding her body as if it were about to break. "I'll take her to her bunk and go get Simmons." He explained before leaving Coulson's office.

Luckily for him, Simmons saw him carrying Skye the second he got down the stairs. "Take her to her bunk; I'll be up in a minute." He did as he was asked, laying her lovingly on her bed. He placed a lingering kiss on her forehead before taking a seat at her side. He should have been honest with himself; his relationship with May hadn't been real. Skye was real to him; she had broken his walls within minutes. Walls that he'd spent so long building up.

"How is she?" Ward asked as Simmons walked in with a piece of high tech looking equipment. She pressed it in a few different places and soon it was scanning Skye and showing Simmons a live feed of what was happening inside of Skye.

"This is the strange thing, it's her heart." Simmons quickly went on to explain what she meant. "When someone experiences deep emotional pain, it can put pressure on the heart. If untreated, some of the heart strings can break causing it to stop pumping blood. She could literally die of a broken heart. Do you have any idea what caused this?"

"Me. I think I did this to her." Ward held his head in his hands. "May and I had been sleeping together for a while. Coulson told Skye, she seemed like she couldn't hear him and then collapsed. Or at least that's what he said." He looked up at Simmons 'shocked face. "I'd gone up to Coulson's office to tell him about myself and Agent May and to tell him that we had ended our relationship. That was when I hit a passed out Skye with the door."

Simmons got curious. "Did you love May?"

"No, we both knew that. But she figured out why before I did." Ward explained slightly ashamed. "It was Skye. I'd been hiding from how I felt about her, putting it down to her being a close friend. It wasn't that. I love Skye and there's no way that she can love me now."

"I wouldn't be too sure." Simmons muttered under hear breath, making sure that he wouldn't hear. "I'm going to get a sedative to calm her down, stay here and look after her. Try talking to her, it might help calm her down too."

Ward nodded and with that Simmons left the two in silence. "Skye, pull through this and prove to me that you're strong. Everything rolls off your back. Please, let this." He begged with her, saying many things that were the same. "Come on, Rookie." Simmons heard him say as she neared Skye's bunk. "I'm not about to let you go down that easily. I love you too much. And there's no way you're skipping out on training."

Simmons saw Fitz's worried look and smiled in an attempt to reassure him. He walked over to her and said "I heard it all, there's no way he's giving up."

"Can you give Skye the sedative? I need to speak to Agent May." Simmons walked away after giving Fitz the sedative. He knew what to do and she knew that he wouldn't say no.

She entered the cockpit and took a seat down next to May. "We're going to need a slight change of plans." She told the older woman sitting to her left. "Skye's in pretty rough shape and we need to get her to the hub. I don't have the equipment I need here."

Wordlessly, May turned the bus around, heading toward the one place Skye wasn't really allowed to go. "We'll be there in 20."


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Skye was gone, there was a blinding light and… that was the end of it. It was like she'd never been there; the sheets had fallen down to the mattress and all the equipment cables were hanging draped across her bed with no use.

That wasn't what had happened in Skye's perspective; she was now lying on a cold hard slab with a little grey man stood, unblinking beside her. "Who are you?" She asked.

"I am Loki of the Asgard." The alien explained. That made Skye laugh, there was no way he was Loki. She'd seen the pictures; Loki was hot and looked a lot more human. "You find this amusing? I am unfamiliar with Earth customs and society. Forgive me for not laughing with you."

"You look nothing like Loki; he's a lot taller than you and is a lot better looking than you. You're little and grey." Skye explained. "Ward," she called out "you can stop messing with me now." She called as she stood up. The thing was the size of a child compared to her. "Tell this kid he can take off the mask!" She started walking around until she saw what looked to be a computer. She read the symbols effortlessly and was soon able to find out where she was.

"Why am I in orbit around earth?" She asked with a slight twinge of anger.

"You are the source of my experiment. I have enhanced you, given you many abilities that you would otherwise not possess." The little man walked over to her. "You were only a young child. I gave you knowledge of many technologies, buried in your subconscious. The symbols have meaning to you but they are not your language. I am currently speaking in my native tongue, and you are replying in the same manner. I gave you this. You can help fix my race."

Then there was another flash of light and she was stood facing the same grey alien but now she was on the opposite side of the console and he was moving the stones on top of it.

"Okay, okay. I get it; you like to keep your computer to yourself. I can't even believe that I have to call you Loki." She apologised.

"I am not Loki. I am Supreme Commander Thor of the High Asgardian fleet." The grey alien replied. "I have transported you here from Loki's ship. You are one of his experiments, one of the successful ones thankfully but I'm afraid that you were deprived of a normal life." The alien blinked it's strange, large black eyes at her. "I cannot return this to you however I can take you to the Stargate. Samantha Carter will find this most interesting indeed."

With that, she was consumed by the bright light and was with Thor in a grey room with a large table in the center. Sat around it were five men and two women. Both women had short hair, one blonde and the other brunette. Three of the men were younger, one a buff dark-skinned man and the other two had dark hair. There was a bald larger man who was obviously a high-ranking General and the other was a greying man who also appeared to be in authority. The greying man and the blonde woman were holding hands and so were one of the dark-haired man and the brunette woman.

"I swear I have no idea what's going on." She raised her hands in surrender.

"Thor buddy, who's your friend." The greying man asked. He had a surprisingly youthful voice, as if he'd never fully grown up.

"This is the result of one of Loki's successful experiments. She was originally a normal human baby but has been enhanced and allowed to develop on this planet at a normal rate. Loki was only released one earth cycle ago and I followed him here. She was damaged but has been fixed." With that, Thor beamed away and left Skye alone with the group of strangers. Only then did she notice two military personnel raise their weapons warily at her. She then noted the unsurprised looks on everyone's faces.

"I guess this happens a lot."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

It had been a week since she disappeared.

"I'm sorry, we don't have any leads." Fury frowned. "I don't like this either, she's a valuable member of your team and of SHIELD. We won't give up that easily. She'd have been the first agent to get straight to Level 7."

"What?" Ward asked startled. "Level 7?"

"You need a minimum of Level 7 clearance to know that I'm alive." Coulson stated. "Is there anything we can do to help find her?"

"We need a team to go work with the USAF, they'll have eyes inside places we don't. Your team have all been granted security clearance for Cheyenne Mountain; you will need to know anything and everything that goes on down there." Fury informed them. He had a slight longing look in his eyes, as if he wished he could go instead. "You'll need to leave for the Colorado air base within the hour, they're expecting you."

With that, Coulson and Ward left Fury's office and headed toward the bus. When they arrived they could tell that something was causing a problem. "What's going on?" Coulson asked Fitz when he got to the command centre.

"I'm having trouble with the computer system at the minute." Fitz hurt was evident in his voice. Skye was missing and the one thing that was impeding retrieving her was her speciality. "I'm trying to hack security cameras but as you can see, I'm not very good at it. Ward, why don't you try?"

With ease, Ward completed the task. He wasn't going to admit it to anyone but during training one week, Skye had shown him how to hack pretty much anything. "Done, the rest is easy."

"Thanks." With that Fitz picked up speed and was effortlessly sifting through feed after feed, looking for anything that had an 80% match to Skye.

"Don't get too comfortable, wheels up in 10." Coulson informed Fitz, having already told the rest of the team.

When they reached the air base, they were greeted by an unusual welcoming committee. The team (minus May and Coulson who were going to put the bus in a hangar once they had the all clear) were staring down the barrels of 20 P-90s, none of the bearers showed any problem with shooting them down.

"Stand down." A voice rang across the air field. A bald, large man strode up to them and immediately the SFs lowered their weapons. "I'm going to assume that you're with SHIELD." The man spoke. He had a strong Texan accent and had obviously seen enough action to be flying a desk. "I'm General Hammond and I'll be briefing you on, well, everything."

"Thank you, General." Ward spoke before signalling May and Coulson that they were good to go. "We're still waiting for two members of our team. They were the ones flying."

"Alright then son, follow me. Your team will be brought to the car once your plane has been closed up. Will you need to bring anything from it?" General Hammond asked, obviously wanting to get down to business.

"Only Coulson and May, the other two members of our team." Ward indicated the boxes of equipment that FitzSimmons had brought with them. "As you can see, the scientists already have their toys."

"I think you'll get along well with my second in command." Hammond muttered to himself before beckoning them toward the van. Once they were all in, the General pulled out non-disclosure agreements. "I'll need you to sign these."

"With all due respect sir, we've all signed every non-disclosure agreement every allied country has." Ward explained.

"I guarantee you haven't signed this one. It's very specific to Cheyenne Mountain." Hammond pushed, all of them signing the papers. Once they started driving, General Hammond started them off with the basics. "Stationed under Cheyenne Mountain is the Stargate programme. The Stargate was uncovered in the early 1900s during a dig at Giza. Since it was first opened it has gotten us into a lot of trouble. It has only been used frequently for the past 5 years, when our enemy came through the gate and abducted one of the SFs on duty. This enemy is the Goa'uld. A parasitic race of alien beings who take control of the human body, using them as their host." The General continued to explain about the major findings since the Stargate was activated. The Nox, Asgard, Tollan, Ancients and the many Goa'uld they had fought.

General Hammond was surprised by how well they were taking the information. But all being said, they did a lot of crazy stuff too.

Coulson took up the conversation after the General had finished. "I assume you've been made aware of our situation?" Coulson continued when the General gave him a small nod. "Do you think any of your enemies or allies took Skye?"

The General's eyes narrowed in thought. "Some rogue Asgard may be involved or the Goa'uld. One of our allies made it known to us that a girl had been taken by a rogue but he took her to the Pegasus Galaxy to make some observations."

Ward nodded to Simmons and she pulled up a picture of Skye on her phone. "Sir, was this her?" Grant barely needed to look at the picture; he'd taken it on Simmons phone when he found the two of them laughing one evening. Fitz had thought Jemma would like having the picture of the two of them. He would never tell anyone but he had taken a second, one of just Skye that currently was in his jacket pocket.

"That's her." Hammond said in stunned surprise. "I'm sure of it, but she's been gone for a week. You and your team better be ready for a trip through the Stargate."

"I thought you said she was in a different galaxy." May questioned. They all noted that it was the only time she'd talked for days.

"We have an expedition there. I'll have to leave you once we get to the base. General O'Neill will take over from there." General Hammond notified them as they passed through the gates. "This is where I leave you. Good luck." Hammond spoke before leaving the van.

"Thank you General." Ward spoke sincerely.

"I wouldn't let her go son." The General spoke before he left, leaving everyone but Ward confused.

"I won't." He whispered. He finally let his emotion take him. He'd tried to seem calm and controlled but all of his hard work failed after what the General had said. He loved Skye; he would scream it to the world. To the universe. But after she disappeared, he'd fallen apart. He couldn't live without her and he didn't want to. The pain consumed him and he sat in silence, feeling every puncture and jerk the knife in his heart was making; it wasn't pleasant and neither was losing Skye.

May and Coulson glanced at each other and then Ward. His pain was painted across his face, moving through every fibre of his being. May knew that he loved Skye and had been surprised to see how calm he was. Now she understood it was a mask; the same mask that she used for years. The only problem was, if you let the mask down, all of the pain will break you. May had kept her mask for so long before she took it down that all of the emotion she had hidden tore her very soul apart; leaving only her mask behind. She understood. She understood too well.

A younger looking man was waiting for them once they had gotten town to level 28. "General Jack O'Neill." He introduced, sticking out his hand. They all shook it as Coulson introduced them.

"I'm Agent Phil Coulson. This is Agent Grant Ward and Agent Melinda May. And these two are 'FitzSimmons'. They're inseparable." Coulson introduced quickly before he explained their new findings. "We believe that the person we're looking for was beamed into your briefing room a week ago."

Grant pulled her picture from his pocket and showed it to the General. "This is Skye."

Immediately the General recognised her. "That'd be her. Made sarcastic comments." He seemed to approve of her quips.

"General Hammond told us that she was taken to the Pegasus galaxy, he also gave us this." He handed a piece of paper to the General. "He told us to be ready to go through."

The General just nodded. "Let's get you suited up." He spoke. Coulson smiled at the comment. That was what he used to say to the avengers before they were told that he died.

That was perfect timing for Tony Stark walked around the corner with a techie commenting on plans for what looked like an arc reactor. "What?!" His voice rang through the halls.

"I believe that you need an explanation Mr Stark." Coulson told him before being drawn into a tight embrace.

"I thought you were dead." He said stunned after releasing the man. "We all did."

"I did die but I managed to come back." Coulson confirmed. "Fury thought that you needed something to push you, make you a stronger team."

"I'm going to poke that man's other eye out!" Tony raged. He was angry. "You know what'll be better, telling Bruce. He's downstairs helping work on the reactor."

"That'll have to wait. I need to get back a member of my team." Coulson explained before indicating to the General that they should make a move.

"I've got the suit and the big guy. Need any help?" Tony offered. "You know that we're a hell of a team."

"She's with allies; we can handle this on our own." May explained.

"Well, Siler and I have to finish connecting the reactor." Tony said by way of greeting before heading to the elevator.

"You know Stark?" General O'Neill asked with a raised eyebrow. "How haven't you gone insane?!"

"I've been there since the beginning. My former team and myself barely managed to get Pepper out of the lab before it collapsed." Coulson spoke about it like it was merely a chip on his shoulder. "You'll get used to him."

It was then that a short, blonde haired woman walked up to the general. "Sir, we've had a message from Atlantis. They've been infiltrated by the Wraith and taken Skye. SG1 and 3 can be ready in 10."

"Okay, you'll also be accompanied by Agent Coulson's team. Skye's one of their Agents."

"Wow, the Phil Coulson. Stark worships you." The woman commented. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter; I'll introduce you to the rest of my team when we're in the gate room."

The lights flickered slightly and Stark ran up to the General. "The arc reactor's good to go. It should match the energy output of a ZPM without depleting."

"Good work Stark. Colonel, you've got 20 minutes to be in the gate room. Stark you will not be joining them." Stark blew out an exasperated breath and left them in the corridor. "Go get geared up." The General ordered. They all departed. "And good luck!"

In 15 minutes, they were all geared up and in the Gate Room waiting for SG3. Ward noted the burly black man with the gold symbol on his head; he definitely didn't want to get on his bad side. He also noted the teenage girl in shorts covered in varying weapons. She was going to get them into a lot of trouble.

'You won't be saying that when I save your ass.' A voice echoed in his head, it was decisively English. He turned to see that Simmons was in deep conversation with Leo so he knew that it couldn't have been her. 'That's because it wasn't. Use your brain; you should be able to work this one out.'

He looked back at the teen, she was checking over all of her weapons. She was doing it with ease; she'd obviously had a lot of training. It surprised him, she'd made no noise but she was suddenly next to him. How did a fifteen year old do that?

"Seventeen." The girl spoke. "Eighteen tomorrow."

"I have a better question. How do you know what I'm thinking?" He questioned.

"I'm telepathic. I can also see past and present events. I can sometimes see the future but it always changes, the future is very subjective. Just knowing about what is happening can change everything." She explained.

"There aren't telepaths." He disagreed. She was just good at guessing. He just wanted to get Skye back and have her explain everything.

"Who's Skye?" The teen asked.

"Why don't you tell me your name first and why you're authorised to be carrying weapons?" Ward was very curious about this girl. "It's not legal for you to be carrying a side arm let alone a high calibre weapon."

"I'm technically not human so none of the rules technically apply to me." She spoke casually. "And my name's Isabel."

"One last question. Why the shorts?"

"They're comfier. Anyway, I hate the kaki."


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

"It's really something isn't it?" Isabel smiled. "The first time I went through the gate I was running for my life. It wasn't pleasant."

Simmons listened to the girl's story. Jemma loved how she was British, it was nice to hear someone speaking to her in the accent. It felt like a little slice of home. "Why were you running?"

"The Goa'uld wanted to take me as a host. The plan was that we jump planets for a few days so it made it harder to find me before leaving for the Pegasus Galaxy. But you need to be careful of the wraith, I was taken captive by them and they tried to plant a copy of me on Atlantis, the expedition we're going to. It got better after that. I spent a year with the Nox developing my abilities, I can do pretty much anything with my mind."

"Do you miss anyone?" Jemma asked. "In the Pegasus galaxy I mean."

"I can't wait to see Carson again. He's the CMO, Scottish as well. He reminded me of home." Isabel's sombre look faded into a smile at her memories of Dr Beckett.

"Fitz does the same for me." Jemma smiled, speaking quietly so that Fitz wouldn't hear. "I've always loved that about him, I do love that about him." Jemma glanced at Leo to see him deep in conversation with the archaeologist... What was his name?

"Daniel, Daniel Jackson." Isabel supplied. "He's not just an archaeologist but a very skilled linguist. If they don't speak English, nine times out of ten Daniel will be able to understand them."

"What about the rest of your team?" Jemma was curious now, they all seemed so different but it was obvious that they worked well together. "How long have you been a team?"

"The big guy's Teal'c. He's Jaffa, the Goa'uld enslaved them and made them carry their larvae until they are fully grown. It prolongs a Jaffa's life and heals them but some of the Jaffa don't want that. There's a resistance of free Jaffa who use a substance called tritonin in place of the symbiote. Because the Jaffa have relied on symbiotes for thousands of years, they have no immune system. The tritonin helps with that.

"The woman's Samantha Carter, she's our commanding officer and the only member of the air force on our team. She's been through hell and back again more than her fair share of times, sometimes in place of one of us. She has a degree in theoretical astrophysics, you won't find anyone smarter than her employed at the SGC. I'd go into more detail but it would take too long." Isabel continued, there was so much to tell. "SG1 has been together for 8 years now, I've only been a part of the team for 2 though. General O'Neill used to command SG1. He misses it, I can tell. But he's seen too much pain, more than Sam has and that's saying something. Imagine losing the person you hold most dear, take that pain and multiply it by 200. That's how much he's gone through and he'll just say he was just doing his duty. But he'd go back through it all if it meant keeping his team safe."

"Wow, you've all seen a lot haven't you?"

"There are hundreds of amazing and beautiful planets, but for every 'easy' mission we get there are 10 dangerous ones. It's a normal thing round here to hear the alarms go off and see someone being dragged to the infirmary but nobody in their right mind would give up gate travel because of that. After a week or two in the infirmary with Dr Frasier and you'll be as good as new." Isabel touched her arm lightly, tracing the long scar that was left there. The only mark she had to remind herself that she'd been human once. She healed too quickly now for anything to scar.

"Can I see that?" Jemma indicated the scar. Isabel gave Simmons her arm like it was no big deal. That was exactly the opposite to Simmons. The scar was 5 inches long and went from her wrist almost to her elbow. It ran parallel to the main artery in the arm. "How did this happen?"

"I was tortured, but that was two years ago. It wouldn't heal over like all of my other scars have. It was opened and reopened several times. I like it though; it reminds me that I was human once. I'll never age or die of natural causes. Not even a well-aimed bullet can take me down. Probably a beheading." Isabel shrugged at the memory of the scar. Just like she said, she liked the scar. It reminded her of what she used to be. She knew that she couldn't have her old life back but she liked to think back to her friends and family, the problems that seemed so small now that she knew what was really going on in the universe.

"I'm sorry, it must be hard for you to have lost everything." Jemma looked like she was about to cry, like she'd felt the same pain before.

"It's okay. I was only ever content with my old life, I'm actually happy for one. It was strange, when I was content I thought I was happy but this is something more. I get to do what I love with the people I love and then pop down to the lab when I'm not on a mission." Isabel was grinning from ear to ear.

Before Jemma could continue the conversation the gate roared into life, the inner ring spinning as the chevrons locked. "Chevron 7 locked." Walter announced before a jet of what seemed to be water was thrown from the gate, it stopped it's trajectory in time to not hit anyone before slipping back to form a pool inside the Stargate.

"It's really something isn't it?" Isabel smiled.

"We've successfully made contact with Dr Weir, move out." The General's voice rang over the speakers.

They all moved up the ramp and toward the gate. SG3 went through first followed by Teal'c and Sam. When it came to the Agent's turn all of them were hesitant. Even the three bad asses named May, Ward and Coulson were hesitating.

"It doesn't hurt." Daniel reassured them. "If it did, we wouldn't be so ready to go through. You might feel cold and slightly nauseous when you get to the other side but it'll pass."

"Here goes nothing." Ward inhaled before stepping through the gate. The rest of the team followed in suit, flanked by Daniel.

"Don't have too much fun without us General." Isabel quipped loudly before stepping backwards through the event horizon.

Coulson had never experienced anything like that before. He was frozen to the core. 'It'll pass.' he kept reminding himself. 'The cold and the nausea would pass.' He instead distracted himself with the scene that was before him. Obviously the decorators were a fan of red because most of the walls and floor were covered in it. There were several sets of stairs going in several different directions. Descending the stairs directly opposite the gate were two women, one blonde and the other brunette, and a man, who also had brunette hair.

"Welcome to Atlantis." The brunette woman smiled. "I'm Dr Weir, the head of this expedition. This is Colonel Sheppard, the ranking military officer and Dr Jennifer Keller or CMO."

Dr Weir watched as Isabel's face creased in worry. 'You'd better tell me later.' Isabel spoke in Dr Weir's mind. 'Of course I will, you were good friends.'

Dr Keller took over the introductions. "You'll all need to come down to the infirmary so I can check if travelling through the gate has had any adverse effects." She motioned for them to follow her.

"I'll need to talk to Agents Ward and Coulson first along with Isabel, I'll send them down to you later." Dr Weir interjected. "If the three of you would come with me."

The others followed Dr Keller while Isabel, Coulson and Ward followed Dr Weir to the briefing room.

"There's something you should know about Skye." Sheppard started.

"She's like Isabel only, she didn't work as well as the Asgard, Loki, had hoped. Isabel cannot age, heals quickly and can manipulate anything with her mind among other traits of the 'four races'. Skye was the first test, but once she was born Loki realised that her powers were out of control and that she would age like any normal human." Elizabeth explained. "Hoping that she would live a normal life, Loki took her to a small village in Mexico and told them to protect her because she was a special child."

"We think that the Wraith might do something to unlock those powers." Sheppard explained. "Isabel will be able to find her and the other people they took. We don't think that the Wraith know about her like they did with Isabel. It'll be a small extraction so we'll need as few people as possible moving around."

"You want us to go in?" Ward asked.

"Just Coulson and May, we need you for a different reason Agent Ward." Dr Weir saw the man's face draw into puzzlement. "You have something called the Ancient Gene. It will allow you to do something that very few members of the expedition can."

"I, Colonel Sheppard and several other people on the base have this gene. It allows us to use the ancient technology to its full extent. Some things require the gene while others don't." Isabel explained. "General O'Neill has the gene."

"We'll need to give you some lessons but you'll be piloting our distraction. Once they get out with our people you'll need to attack the base and distract them enough to think that they are with you." Colonel Sheppard explained.

"In reality they'll be heading to the gate by foot." Dr Weir explained.

"Isn't that dangerous if they see us?" Coulson chimed in. It was strange for him to be on the receiving end of a mission brief.

"I can hide us." Isabel spoke. She waved her hand and then... She wasn't there. "I think we'll be fine." A voice spoke from behind Coulson but when he turned there was no one there. He turned and stood in front of him was Isabel.

"I think this might work." Ward smiled. He had hope, they could get her back.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Isabel pulled Dr Weir aside at the end of the briefing, her eyes filled with alarm. "Where's Dr Beckett?" She felt sick to her stomach, dreading to hear what she was going to say.

"We had an incident a while back. A research team had been infected with tumours that, when they reached critical capacity, would explode." Dr Weir started. Isabel's expression sank, tears starting to sting her eyes. "We had already lost three people because of it and Dr Beckett took it upon himself to operate on the last surviving member of the team. It went smoothly until it came to getting the tumour to a bomb proof case, which was on its way down from the gate. He handed the surgery over to another doctor and tried to meet the person carrying the case because the tumour was almost at critical capacity. He didn't reach it in time."

Isabel let a tear fall from her eye, another one of the people she loved was dead. She didn't love him the way she loved Ryan but she thought of him as a brother. A brother that she no longer had. "This was when I was with the Nox wasn't it?" She asked, unable to think of a reason why she hadn't heard.

"Yes it was." Elizabeth frowned apologetically, placing a hand on Isabel's arm. "You should probably talk to Rodney about it. As annoying as he is, Carson was his best friend, he might be able to help."

"I'm just going to head down to Dr Keller for my exam." Isabel took a deep breath, wiping the tears from her eyes and walking from the briefing room as if they had said nothing about it.

…

Skye couldn't bear what she was hearing. Screams were echoing down the vast corridors, many of them not returning after they went silent. Of the fifteen people who were in the cage with her, now six remain, and five of them have been through too much already. It's just her and a small woman left, the woman more terrified than the rest of them. When their captors came back Skye stood back, the terrified woman clinging to her arm. Their leader pointed to the woman, the two others dragging her from the cell.

"No." Skye screamed, running forward. Before she could get to them she was hit by the leader, sending her flying into the back wall. When she woke up, the woman wasn't there anymore.

...

After several minutes, Ward had mastered flying the puddle jumper and was done learning how to cloak it. "Do you think we'll be ready in time?" Ward asked John, flying the jumper back into the bay.

"Yeah, I think so." John nodded, not sounding as confident as Ward would have liked. "We leave in an hour so gear up." With that John left Ward in the jumper, worrying about how he was going to fly the thing on his own.

...

An hour later everyone congregated in the jumper bay, each boarding one of three jumpers. Ward's job was to touch down with the other three and when everyone got out become a distraction for the wraith darts, hopefully surviving until everyone was back aboard the other jumpers and ready to leave the planet. They didn't know how may people would still be alive so he might have to pick up a few people if there wasn't enough space in the others.

They left and the plan moves swiftly, two of the three jumpers cloaking once they left the event horison. Isabel, May and Coulson moved quickly, using the trees for cover for as long as they could. When they reached the tree line Isabel cloaked them and they continued to move up to the entrance of the large hive ship.

"We can't stay cloaked while we move through here, the Wraith will be able to sense it if I try to use their mind to find Skye and the others." Isabel explained, removing the cloak. They moved swiftly, frequently doubling back and taking slight detours to avoid the Wraith. Within five minutes they could see the cell where everyone was being held. May and Coulson moved to run to them but Isabel held them back as three wraith walked round the corner dragging Skye back to the cell. Isabel motioned for them to move further back as the wraith turned to leave the group in the cell. Luckily they didn't spot the three of them and continued on their way.

Isabel quickly ran over to the keypad, using her powers to open the cell door. The officers, in varying degrees of lucidity and with the help of Coulson and May, moved through the facility, following Isabel as closely as possible, who was carrying Skye. They quickly made it to the jumpers and began their escape.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Skye was devastated. She'd seen it happen but she couldn't do anything to change it. The Wraith had sent out darts to destroy the jumpers that were being used as a distraction. One had been hit and smashed into the ground. People were calling over the radio to see if anyone had survived but there was no answer. They tried to tell her it would be okay and that their radio connection might have been broken but she didn't believe them. Anyone inside of the jumper was dead. She later found out that Ward hadn't come back, because he was inside the jumper when it went down. It was official, Skye was past devastation.

She was sat with some teenager trying to get her to expand her mind and unlock her abilities but Skye didn't care at this point, she just wanted to keep Grant's memory alive.

"SKYE!" The girl shouted. Skye was immediately shocked out of her daze and was staring at the ceiling. "I know it can be boring but you need to stay awake and focused."

Skye sat up and looked at the girl's face. "Why don't you just tell me your name? I don't have crazy mind powers like you. Telepathic abilities don't even exist!" Skye was getting frustrated. She'd just lost the man she loved again, first to May and now to some weird ass looking aliens. Skye didn't have the energy to be developing her mind, she didn't even want her mind any more.

"You don't think telepaths exist?" The girl asked. She was getting very annoying very quickly.

'I don't think you'll believe that for very long.' The girl whispered? She wasn't moving her mouth but Skye knew what she'd heard. 'I'm not talking in the conventional manner of the word. No my mouth isn't moving but I'm forming words in the sensory cortex of your mind so that you can hear my voice not just think the words I'm saying. It makes it easier for people to know that I'm talking to them and not themselves.'

'That's enough!' Skye retaliated, thinking she'd screamed it out loud. Little did she know that she hadn't spoken out loud but her thoughts had followed the girl's. She was no longer sat but on her back nursing her head.

"I'm so sorry." Skye hurried over to the girl's side and was immediately helping her up. "I meant to say that. You know out loud."

"Thor wasn't kidding when he said that your powers would be harder to control than mine." Isabel muttered.

"Isabel!" Skye exclaimed. "Your name is Isabel!"

"Yeah. Did you find that in my mind or did you remember me telling you that when I got you out?" Isabel joked. Seeing Skye's face fall she quickly explained. "Don't worry, I never told you my name otherwise this exercise would have been pointless."

"So what now? Can I pick the brains of one of the freaks that took me and those other people?" Skye squealed excitedly.

Isabel shuddered at her memories. It was not fun hearing their thoughts, especially not when she was trying to get Skye out. She'd had to follow their thoughts through endless chasms and minds before she finally found where they were. But some of them were having dinner. It was awful, hearing the screams and remembering her own pain and then feeling the enjoyment the wraith had when they fed.

"No. It isn't pleasant." Isabel pushed through her lips. "They aren't like us. Their minds are connected, the second you step into one hosts of thoughts and realities mix and change before your eyes. It's not fun to experience; it's worse than unpleasant."

"You did that to get us out didn't you?" Skye asked.

"Yeah but I'd already gone through it before. The second time was easy compared to then." Isabel smiled. "Maybe because I wasn't the one they were feeding on."

"Is that why you look so young? Did you force it to give you your life back?" Skye was too hopeful about these things. "Did you save loads of people?"

"No, no and no. I'm sorry to burst your bubble Skye but they were giving me my life back themselves. They do that because it causes excruciating pain, they use it to try and make you worship them."

Skye shrank back. She hadn't realised how bad it would be, what she would experience if she unlocked her 'powers'. "I don't want them. I can't do stuff like that. I'm not strong I'm a hacker, I do things from safety. I don't put myself out there like you, I don't risk everything."

"But you want to be a SHIELD agent. You'll have to do that then." Isabel's face was completely straight and serious. "That's what you were doing with Ward so why is it any different now."

"Because Ward's dead!" Skye yelled, running from the room. She sped down the halls, knocking people aside as she went. She didn't care what they were saying or thinking. She didn't want it.

That was when she ran straight into May. Instead of being shoved aside like the others she caught Skye in a tight embrace, stroking the sobbing girl's hair. "I know that Coulson told you about the nature of the relationship that myself and Ward had. But it would never have worked, he loved you too much. At times he didn't want to but he did, I realised sooner than him. We all did, he just wasted his opportunity to be with you." Skye continued to cry, not just because he was gone but because of everything that they missed.

Coulson was watching the scene from just around the corner. He knew how Ward had felt about Skye but he had hated knowing that Ward was with somebody else while irrevocably in love with the woman he was starting to call his daughter. But it was too late now, one of the best agents SHIELD had was now dead on a planet too far from home. Nobody Ward knew back on Earth could know about what happened and neither could most of SHIELD. The only people who would know were Fury, Stark, Hill and Bruce; some of whom barely knew Ward.

Skye sobbed even harder after hearing Coulson's thoughts. It was too much for her, she was hearing people pity her and judge her inside of her head. Nobody knew that of course or they might have watched what they said. "I'm sorry May." Skye sobbed. She had slowly started to stop crying and let go of May.

"I'm the one who should be sorry." May smiled melancholy.

Ward shook himself awake. He opened his eyes several times trying to blink away the blur that he was seeing. Eventually he saw the puddle jumper that he was trapped in and outside of the window was a host of wraith that were trying desperately to break in. He tried his hardest to get it to fly but one of the engines had been taken out. He searched for weapons and supplies; they had to be a priority. Luckily he found everything he needed; the last thing was that he needed to kill the wraith that were trying to kill him.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Jemma panicked. Skye was telling her about what May had said while she cried but then Skye started acting strange. She'd stopped talking and was breathing heavily. "He's not dead." Skye had muttered before running through the endless corridors.

"Are you sure you're not losing your mind?!" Jemma shouted after Skye. "He was shot down, there's no way he could have survived." Jemma picked up speed, getting closer and closer to Skye in the dark halls of Atlantis. She grabbed Skye's wrist and pulled her round. "It's late, you're tired and upset. You just need some rest, your mind is creating delusions because you're so tired."

"No I'm not. I can feel it." Skye continued her trek through the halls until she found the room she wanted. She waved her hand over the door panel and it slid open. She ran over to Isabel's sleeping body and shook her awake. "Is it possible to make a connection with someone but where you know what they're doing?"

"Yeah, I've formed a few. They're pretty hard to establish before you learn how to control your powers." Isabel muttered. "It's definitely possible though." She blinked herself awake. "You're going to have to tell me what you're thinking, I block out people's thoughts subconsciously."

"Ward's not dead. I know it." Skye blurted. "You said that I could make a full link with someone if I worked hard enough. I'm ready to do that work."

"You'd better be sure because if Ward doesn't feel the same way about you then you'll be stuck with the link." Isabel warned. "Well, I say that but it took two years to break the connections with people who had been told I was dead."

"I'm sure. I know that if I can make this work I can help him out." Skye had never been more sure about anything before.

"Let's get started then." Isabel sighed before rolling out of bed. "I'm going to get dressed and I'll explain where we're going on the way." She pulled out her clothes and indicated for Skye to turn around. Within a minute she was dressed in a pair of shorts and the over shirt she had worn when she was living with the Nox. She had twisted a feather and some flowers into part of her hair. Pulling a bag that looked like it was made of similar material to the over shirt, Isabel pulled on her shoes.

"What's that for?" Skye pointed at the addition she had made to her hair.

"It's part of the Nox culture, the people who helped me develop my abilities. They believe that being close to nature heightens their power and it does to a certain extent but we'll need to be in the forest for this to work." Isabel explained as they moved through the halls.

They walked up to Dr Weir's office and were relieved to see that she and Colonel Sheppard were still there, even though it was two in the morning. "We need to take a puddle jumper to the mainland." Isabel asked, skipping straight to the point. "You know that the Nox live on a forest planet and we'll need to be in that environment for Skye's plan to work. She thinks that Ward is still alive and if he is she should be able to make a connection between herself and him, it'll be like the one you two have."

"Wait, he was killed." John counteracted.

"Not necessarily. He was shot down yes but that doesn't mean that he was killed, he might have been unconscious when we tried to make contact." Skye argued. "I know it's a desperate move but it's the only one we have left and I'm not giving up on him."

Coulson jogged into the office. "I just spoke Simmons and she thinks that Skye might be telling the truth. She's currently nursing an electrical burn from a piece of faulty equipment but she checked the results, Skye's in perfect condition."

"Faulty equipment is called faulty for a reason." John debated. "But she is a very intelligent girl."

'John, we can trust her.' Dr Weir soothed.

'I know but who knows what might happen to them on the mainland.'

'It's her choice. We should let her make it.'

'Okay.'

"Be in the jumper bay in 20 minutes and we'll have supplies ready for you." Elizabeth allowed before making her way out of the room with the rest of the group.

"May will be joining you. It won't hurt to have someone ready in case something goes south." Coulson informed the girls. "She'll be waiting for you." With that he made for a different set of stairs.

"Skye, get anything you think you'll need. This might take a few days." Isabel warned before heading for the jumper bay.

"Good luck." John smiled before walking away, hand in hand with Elizabeth. The two were smiling about something, it was a warming but saddening sight for Skye. If she failed, Grant wouldn't get any back-up. She's promised him that they would be his extraction if any mission went south.

Skye had quickly gathered what she needed and walked into the jumper bay to see Isabel helping load the last of the supplies into the jumper with the help of May. It was going to be a long shot and she hoped that Grant could wait for a few days.

…

He'd managed to cloak the jumper and move it closer to the gate but he could only hope that his team would come for him. The door had smelted shut when the blast hit and he was stuck. His planning had gone south because he knew that they would think he was dead.

"Now don't be so pessimistic Grant. You've been in worse situations." He tried to reassure himself.

…

Skye was pitching her tent while Isabel decided that she would build a traditional Nox hut. "It might help and it'll keep the bugs out better." She said. Skye hated the thought of being stuck with the creatures, it repulsed her to think that she could be sharing a bed with anything.

When Skye next looked up she was surprised to see that Isabel's promised hut was taking shape beautifully. It had only been half an hour but May walked back through the trees carrying varying sizes and lengths of logs and branches.

"Will we need any more?" May asked civily. It was strange not to hear a hint of spite or remorse in the woman's voice. Skye wasn't sure if being around May was going to be a good idea. She'd been in a relationship with Ward and he barely cared about her. Skye didn't like that. Because of the woman she'd confided in, she'd been out of reach of the man she loved.

"Just for a fire, I'm almost finished." Isabel called down from the tree she was cutting the vines from. "I'll need some more vines, I won't need too many though. I can use the netting in the packs as well."

May walked into the woods once again. That was when Skye heard a loud thud. Thinking something had gone wrong, she turned around with her gun raised to see that Isabel had jumped down from the tree. "It's quicker." She shrugged before preparing a fire pit.

Skye went back to her thoughts. Wondering where Ward was and whether he was going to be okay. Skye was desperate to know what was happening but at the moment, she couldn't know. She didn't have the ability to. It was aggravating, knowing that she was so close but might not be able to do anything about it. Not only aggravating, it was painful. It ripped through her like a hot knife. There was no rational explanation for it, but the reality of the situation might kill her.

"Skye? Skye!" Skye heard Isabel calling her name, it sounded like it was getting closer. Someone was shaking her, Isabel was shaking her.

"Sorry, I was deep in thought." Skye blinked a few times, trying to get her eyes used to the searing light.

"I could tell, you were buried so deep I couldn't reach you." Isabel's eyebrows were furrowed, her eyes were piercing Skye's. Skye felt like there was someone with her. Not physically, it was hard to explain.

"There's no damage." Suddenly the feeling was gone, it was weird. "That was me. It's common among the young Nox to burrow deep within their minds and leave damage behind."

"I'm not a child." Skye retorted. She was twenty-one, not nine!

"The Nox live for hundreds of years, twenty-one is young. Besides, you've had practically no training." Isabel said absently as she arranged the wood may had brought into a fire. As soon as she was done it burst into flames. Skye jumped back and noticed the slight smirk playing on Isabel's lips. "I'll teach you that when we get Ward back."

"If we get him back." Skye muttered.

"We won't if you think like that. What I'm going to teach you will take a lot of effort and concentration, if you don't put your heart into it, it won't work. The slightest doubt can ruin that." Skye looked back into stern eyes. "It will work, I've done it before."

"Okay. Let's do this." Skye found a new sense of determination, it was going to work. She could feel it.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Ward was sick of running, he'd been running for 2 days. He'd managed to get out of the jumper with the supplies but out of the frying pan and into the fire. It was becoming hopeless. The wraith didn't sleep and rarely got tired, he'd get maybe a few hours of sleep before they were back and searching for him. He wished the jumper hadn't been in such bad shape, he'd have been able to make it to the gate that was in orbit around the planet but he was stuck.

Thump, thump, thump. His foot falls were all he could hear. "Where are you now Skye?" Ward asked under his breath. "So much for back-up. Two days. Two days!" Ward stopped running for a moment and decided to start going up. There was a mountain with a lot of trees so why not. The wraith would find it just as hard to keep following him as he did moving through the thick vegetation. He continued on his new path until he reached a rather large tree.

"Here goes nothing." He muttered before setting up traps in the area around the tree and climbing up.

He sat. Just sat there thinking about Earth and SHIELD. And now he was starting to prefer running. He'd managed to find a well concealed spot but he knew he wouldn't stay concealed forever, they'd notice. He wanted them to sometimes; he wanted it to be over already. But he remembered Skye's face after he got back from the mission she wasn't supposed to know anything about. She had tear marks across her cheeks, bags under her eyes but a smile full of relief on her face. She and Simmons had pulled him and Fitz into a large and tight hug. The next day, Skye had walked down the stairs expecting to see him missing again but when she saw him she sprinted over and wrapped her arms around him. She'd sobbed about how she'd thought it was a dream.

He couldn't risk losing her because he was selfish, for all he knew they might think he was dead. He hoped they didn't because he didn't want to spend the rest of his life running from life sucking aliens. He had plans, he was going to ask Skye out to dinner when they got back but that went slightly off plan.

"Come on guys. Get me back." Ward spoke to the sky. "I don't want a rain check on that date."

…

Skye didn't feel like it was working. She stretched out her mind and tried to focus on Ward but it was very hard. She had no idea what she was doing and she was struggling to 'find him'. It was ridiculous; she could do with a little help.

"Skye, you need to focus on the planet first and then look for him. It narrows down the haystack and you'll know when you find him because he'll be the only one with separate thoughts." Isabel dragged Skye back to reality.

"Can't you help me search? It's been days and I'm no closer to finding him." Skye pleaded. "I know I won't be able to do this without your help."

"I can but you will need to be careful, if you seal me in the bond I'll become it. I'm not the person you're trying to link with so I'll be the extra energy you need." Isabel was wary of whether Skye had the determination and control to not kill her. "It's not like taking someone's physical life energy, you'll take my mind. Everything that makes me, me, will be drawn in and become the bridge between you and Ward. You need to be sure that you can block me out when you do this. I'll be observing you and helping you but you can't ever draw me into the forefront of your mind."

"I could kill you?" Skye questioned slightly afraid.

"Not kill. My body would be here and alive but my mind would be converted into energy and bound to you and Ward until one or possibly even both of you die." Isabel breathed, her stony gaze fixed on Skye. "I wouldn't have the will to stop you either; I'd be conscious but powerless. It would take a lot of energy to pull me out. I'm not being self-centred but it would take a lot more energy than you and Ward could gather combined."

"I don't know if I can do this." Skye's heart sank. There was no way that she could control her powers and not kill Isabel in the process. "If I live forever like you, you'd be trapped."

"I'm willing to risk that. It's my job to help save other people with no care for my own life or well-being. The stakes are a little higher this time round but I trust you." Isabel sounded sure but Skye was still worried that she'd kill her. Ward would have to live with the guilt as well because she'd be tethered to him as well. "There are Wraith on that planet who are getting closer and closer to killing Ward every second we wait."

"Okay." Skye breathed, calming down. She took Isabel's outstretched hands and closed her eyes. The warmth of the fire dragged her further into her mind and further from her body. She could see everything now, the universe was beautiful and she knew exactly what was happening on every planet around every star. She found the smallest one very interesting; it was the planet Ward was stuck on. She could see him, climbing a large tree and crouching high in its branches. "We found him!" Skye exclaimed. She could feel her voice ringing through the air on the planet, echoing across the vast surface. She focused her mind on Grant's and started to speak.

'Hey Robot, can you hear me?' Skye's voice suddenly rang next to him. Ward looked around but he knew she wasn't there.

'Skye?' He thought. It was absurd but he felt like she could hear him.

'I can hear you. And that's probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say, or think. Brain dead doesn't suit you.' Her voice echoed to him. 'Isabel's helping me communicate with you so that we can make a secure link between the two of us. I won't lose you this time Grant Ward.'

'Lose?!' Ward didn't think that they'd give up on him and technically they hadn't. 'As in, you didn't know where I was? Or you thought I'd died?'

'The dead one.' Skye could feel him getting angry. 'We tried to call you on the radio but you didn't respond. They were going to give up on you but now I can tell them you're alive.'

'Yeah, why don't you do that now then? Why are we still talking if you could come save me?'

'If I lose this connection, we lose you. I might not be able to find you again. I have to make this connection permanent and unbreakable first. Ward, you have to be okay with us knowing each other's every thought or I can't start.'

'We'll never lose you again on a mission at least.' Ward smiled, he loved her so much.

'I just didn't know it?' Skye's voice rang slightly melancholy. 'May told me how you felt. You and May were the reason that I passed out and you are the reason I'm not giving up now. I love you Grant, now let's get you out of here.'


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

'Skye, keep Ward talking. I'm going to gather the energy to forge your connection; it might be safer than the alternative.' Isabel's voice suddenly interjected into the conversation. 'I might be able to take down the entire hive ship if I do this right.'

'What's she talking about?' Ward asked Skye. She'd projected and image of herself into his mind so that it would be less weird for him to be talking to the air. There was a catch or two though. She couldn't make the connection this way and Ward was seeing her floating in mid-air in front of him.

'If I'd forged the connection it would have been harder for me to not drag Isabel's life force in with it. I could have killed her trying to save you.' Skye formed the words slightly oddly in Ward's mind.

'You don't have the hang of this, do you?' Ward smiled. It was amusing to see her first attempt be so close to perfect. If only she took training this seriously.

'No I don't because until about a week ago I didn't know I have crazy psychic powers.' Skye quipped. She loved him, but sometimes she wanted to punch him in the gut. Luckily for him she didn't have a solid hand.

'I'm ready, you need to both focus on each other or this won't work.' Isabel's voice re-entered their thoughts. They both started to feel like they were being pulled toward each other. It was over as soon as it started and the feeling that they were attached with a rope faded into the background.

'So it was that easy and you thought you'd freak me out by saying that I could kill you!' Sky yelled in Ward's mind.

'I only just had the idea of using the wraith's energy, though it will only kill a few of them. Their hive mind works differently than I thought.' Isabel's smile bled through her words. 'You do realize that it will take a lot of effort to break the connection than it takes to make it. You can't just go back on it; like getting a tattoo.'

'You two know that I'm still here hiding from the wraith right?' Ward reminded them.

'Sorry. We're coming to get you now.' Isabel spoke before her presence faded. Skye's didn't though he could hear her thoughts like whispers. It had worked.

…

"I have to go back to Earth with the rest of SG1 but I wish you all the best." Isabel smiled melancholy. "You two are good together, I hope it lasts." The young woman smiled before walking through the event horizon of the Stargate.

"Are you ready to leave?" May asked, flanked by Colonel Sheppard.

"Yeah." Skye smiled enthusiastically. "I don't want to wait any more." 'We're coming Grant.' She thought, knowing that he could now hear her.

'Took you long enough.' She knew he was smiling; he saved those smiles for her. Only she now knew why.

"Skye? Are you okay?" Coulson asked, his brow furrowed in worry.

"Yeah, I'm just talking to Ward." She smiled, following them up to the jumper bay. "I can show you where to go Colonel."

"I also have sensors which do that for me." Sheppard smiled. "Don't look so defeated, we just don't want to tire you out."

"Trust me, I'll be fine." Skye knew what she said was an understatement. Skye was buzzing with excitement; it took a lot of effort to keep under control.

'Miss me Rookie?' Ward smiled. She knew he was glad that they were coming but he was filled with relief and then worry. 'You need to hurry up, they're coming this way.'

"Colonel, make sure that you go as fast and as soon as you can, they're gaining on him." Skye informed the Colonel.

"Don't you know how to make people invisible?" John inquired.

"No, she never taught me that. I have great control over mind reading but I don't think that will help right about now." Skye took a deep breath and focused on saving Ward.

They saw him, shooting down from a tree top at the approaching wraith. The jumper was cloaked so the wraith wouldn't see them this time but that meant Ward couldn't see it either.

"Can you see in to the jumper if we lower the ramp at the back?" Skye asked, a brilliant idea popping into her head. 'Grant, you're going to need to trust me.'

'I trust you, now what are you doing?'

"No. Why?" John asked before suddenly realizing what she was planning to do. "If you stand on the end the cloak should still cover you." The Colonel manoeuvred the jumper so that the end of the ramp was a few feet away from Ward.

'I need you to turn around and jump. The jumper's here, I'm at the end of the ramp.' Skye told him, holding out her hand even though she knew that he wouldn't be able to see it.

'You want me to do what?' Ward thought alarmed. 'I've jumped lots of times but never into something I can't see.'

'Just come towards me, we're two, maybe three feet apart and your facing directly at me. Now jump.' Skye tried to sound calm but she could see that the wraith were improving their aim dramatically, shots were barely missing him.

"Jump!" She screamed, anger and worry filling her. Ward did just that. He jumped directly at her, knocking Skye to her feet.

"Next time, don't listen to Coulson." Ward smiled his face a fraction of an inch from hers.

Just as Skye was about to close the gap, "Do you guys want to move off of the ramp so we can get out of here? Unless you feel like being sucked into the vacuum of space." John laughed. They immediately got up and took the two remaining seats in the front of the puddle jumper.

"Great." May almost smiled; her voice static as usual. "Let's get out of here."

Ward smiled across to Skye. "You pulled through Rookie. Nice work. Though I could have done with a shower a few days ago."


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

"So…" Skye said awkwardly as she and Grant stood on the balcony off of the gate room, they had stood in silence for hours and they would be heading back to Earth the next day, it was now or never. "We need to talk."

"We've been hearing each other think for the past few hours." He sounded like he was complaining and not complaining at the same time.

"We can't hide anything from each other so I think that I need to come clean to you." Skye took a deep breath; she knew that it would be hard to say what she wanted to say. "When I first joined the team, I was still working for the Rising Tide. I thought that I would be kicked off of the team within weeks and would be back in my van being tracked all over the country for the rest of my life. When those weeks turned into months I started to like being on the team and I knew that there was something about working with S.H.I.E.L.D. that I knew I would never know if I kept working with the Rising Tide.

"I was about to quit when I saw Miles again and I thought that maybe I would be able to leave with him and go back to the life I had before S.H.I.E.L.D., I thought that everything would be different and that I could avoid making any connections with you and the rest of the team. We all know what happened after that." Skye held up her tagged wrist and took a deep breath before continuing, unsure of how Grant was taking it all. "Just don't over react to the next part.

"But what you don't know is that I was looking for my parents from the start. My search finally came down to a single redacted file; a file that was redacted by a Level 10 Agent from S.H.I.E.L.D. I knew that I had to look for a way to find the original file. Coulson and May have been looking for any clues since the Miles incident but there was nothing about me in the report other than the fact that the nuns had found me asleep in a dead Agent's arms. While we were at the Academy, AC and May went to Mexico to find the last surviving Agent who was involved in taking me to the St Agness Orphanage. When they found him and managed to take him in, they managed to get him to tell them about the mission.

"A small village in the Hunan province of China and almost an entire S.H.I.E.L.D. team were killed because of the 0-8-4 they had found. Agent Avery and her partner managed to escape. I don't know the name of her partner but he was the one AC tracked down and he left before anything else could happen to him. Agent Avery brought the 0-8-4 to America and hid it."

"What's important about this 0-8-4?" Ward asked, specifically focusing on the words Skye was telling him, he knew she wanted to say it out loud and he wasn't going read her thoughts to find out.

"Before I tell you, you need to know that death follows the 0-8-4." She had a very serious and slightly panicked look on her face.

"What; was your mom Agent Avery and she died because of this 0-8-4?" Ward asked speculatively.

"No, the 0-8-4 wasn't a weapon or technology or an alien artifact. It was a baby; a baby girl. The baby was taken to the St Agness Orphanage and placed under a S.H.I.E.L.D. order that she be moved from home to home so that no one would find her." A single tear fell down Skye's cheek as she continued to tell Grant the rest of the story. "For years, the child grew up only knowing rejection and loss.

"Until she graduated, got a drivers license and a van; leaving the orphanage. She won a laptop in a bet and met a guy named Miles Lydon. He taught the 0-8-4 hot to hack and got her involved with an organization called the Rising Tide who then led to her being caught in a van in an alley where two men in dark suits threw a bag over her head and dragged her in for questioning. They later made her a member of their team and showed her more love and trust than she had ever received." Skye was crying now, tears streaming down her face. "The 0-8-4 later discovered that most of the people in her life would hate to meet an 0-8-4 that was a living breathing person so she hid it from the person who mattered the most to her, knowing that it would change everything between them.

"I'm an 0-8-4. That means no one knows where I come from or what I am capable of. I'm risking everyone's lives by still breathing."

Grant immediately captured her in a tight hug and as more tears streamed down her face. "You may be an 0-8-4 but I love you. I think that makes up for anything that could be remotely different about you because I don't care."

"Remember, death follows me. Every second you're with me could be a second closer to your death." She didn't want to be the reason he died, she wouldn't be able to bear the guilt.

"I always promised myself that I would protect you and that is what I'm going to do." Grant placed a kiss into Skye's hair. "I'm going to protect you."

…

They had fallen asleep in each other's arms that night. Coulson knew that nothing had happened because he found them lying on top of the covers with Skye's laptop on at the end of the bed looping the menu screen for Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. He shook the two awake and smiled down at them. It was so cute.

They both turned bright red as they saw Coulson standing over them. "I know, nothing happened. You were only watching a movie and you fell asleep."

Skye sighed in relief and sat up from the bed. "I'd better go get my stuff then." She smiled to Grant before she left the two older men alone in the room.

"I'm going to assume that you and Skye have talked through everything." Coulson pulled a chair and sat in front of Ward. "You can't tell anyone else about what you've heard, you could endanger everybody's lives."

"Of course not sir, Skye warned me about that." He had a very serious look on his face.

"You could also endanger your own life." Coulson didn't want anybody on his team to get hurt because he loved them all like his family.

"I know sir, but I promised myself that I would protect her and that's what I'm going to do." Ward rose from the bed and retrieved his bag and Skye's laptop.

With a thoughtful nod, Coulson left the room and left Ward to think over the implications of what he had chosen.


End file.
